Steve Coogan has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government, claiming the party now serves only those "inside the M25" and accusing it of enabling the rise of Reform UK's.
The actor and comedian said that Labour had committed "a derogation of all the principles they were supposed to represent" during its first year in power.
Speaking about the Prime Minister, Coogan said: "I knew before the election he was going to be disappointing. He hasn't disappointed me in how disappointing he's been."
The Bafta-winning performer, who previously supported Labour but switched to the Green Party last year, blamed the Government for creating conditions that drive working people towards Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
Labour's decision-making was criticised by the actor
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Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would be the largest party if a General Election was held today, a bombshell opinion poll recently revealed.
YouGov’s new MRP poll revealed that a turquoise tsunami would sweep large swathes of England and Wales, returning 271 Reform MPs to the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour would suffer its worst result since 1935, with just 178 seats confounding the Prime Minister to an even more dire result than Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.
Coogan expressed strong agreement with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana's statement announcing her departure from the party to co-lead a left-wing alternative with Corbyn.
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Steve Coogan has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Government
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He said: "Everything she said in her statement I agree wholeheartedly. I wish I'd said it myself", though he added he was "reserving judgment" on whether to support the new party.
The Philomena star accused Labour of "leant into supporting a broken system" and pursuing only "managed decline".
He said: "We have a Labour Government and it's no different from a Conservative Government in neglecting ordinary people."
He criticised the party's decision-making as appearing "political and strategic and nothing to do with sincerity or any kind of firmly held ideological belief".
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would be the largest party if a General Election was held today, a bombshell opinion poll recently revealed
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Coogan told The Guardian that he did not blame working people for voting Reform UK, he said: "The success of Reform, I lay squarely at the feet of the neoliberal consensus, which has let down working people for the last 40 years and they're fed up."
He warned that without meaningful change, both major parties would "pave the way for the only alternative", branding Nigel Farage as "a racist clown".
He said: "Reform couldn't organise a p**s up in a brewery but if there's no alternative you understand why working people will make that choice."
Speaking at the Co-op Congress in Rochdale, Coogan called for locally led grassroots movements to take control from "multinational institutions and billionaires".
He urged Labour to empower communities through measures like compulsory purchase orders for neglected buildings, arguing that addressing poverty and economic decline in post-industrial areas would cause Reform's support to "dissipate".